Walking on the RR tracks

Ever walk down Folsom Blvd in Rancho Cordova? Not very pleasant. Now that my bike is gathering dust until I decide to buy a new one, it’s back to huffing it to work from Sunrise station to Mather Mills. Total one-way distance is around 3 miles thru some pretty seedy areas. Walking on the north side of Folsom Blvd. means close contact with the type of characters you don’t want to see in a dark alley or even a bright alley for that matter. In addition I am constantly forced to stay vigilant that some car doesn’t mow me over while pulling out of Walmart or some gas station along the way. Walking on the south side is out of the question since there is no sidewalk at all. Instead, this side of the street is reserved exclusively for the light rail and a third rail rarely used by UP Railroad. I guess the city of Rancho Cordova decided that pedestrians are not a high priority in this area even though this section of RC probably has the highest number of people walking anywhere in the entire city. In my frustration at not being able to take a simple, peaceful walk from one end of RC to another without fearing I will be accosted by gang bangers, booming stereos coming from cars driven by young punks, drunken homeless, etc., I soon discovered that the third rail is the most quiet, pleasant way to travel by foot. In fact, all last summer I frequently walked this route and thoroughly enjoyed it as an alternative to biking.  But, as is commonly the case, all good things must come to an end.  And in this case, an abrupt end. While cruising thru the last leg of the return trip today, I passed by the Cordova Town Center light rail station and didn’t notice a policeman just standing at the station. Who knows why he was there. There certainly wasn’t anything going on. All was quiet but he was standing there, doing nothing but scanning for trouble and as soon as he spotted me, motioned me over. Oh shit! It just so happens that right when he called me over, I was on the phone with pumpkin and she was telling me to buy some milk. I had to cut that conversation short to face my fate. Fortunately, I got off with just a warning that UP fines people up to $3,000 for trespassing on their property and to take his advice and go on a different route. Okay, I got the message but it sure is going to be difficult. I may just give up the walk entirely because of the unpleasant alternative I am left with. We’ll see.